A World Filled with Silence
by JML Ranch
Summary: Julie Stark is the adopted daughter of Tony Stark- and she is deaf. How will she react when she finally meets the Avengers? Will she fall for the First Avenger himself, Captain Steve Rogers?
1. Chapter 1: A bit about Julie Stark

**Stark: **What? I don't have a daughter...  
**JML Ranch: **Yes you do, grow up. Don't act like you have no idea what I am talking about, Anthony Howard Stark.  
**Stark: **...  
**JML Ranch: **That's what I thought. Now, here's Chapter 1!

* * *

I wake up as my alarm goes off, shaking the entire bed. Grumbling, I get up and turn off the alarm clock. I reach for my cochlear implants and put them on my head.

"Good morning, Ms. Stark. Your dad wants to talk to you in the living room," JARVIS speaks from the ceiling. Not in the mood to really use my voice, I sign back, acknowledging the computer that I got his message. I look into my closet and pull out a simple blue t-shirt, jeans, and boots. After changing quickly, I make my way to the living room and see my dad. JARVIS alerts him to my presence.

"Julie, we need to talk about something," my dad says, signing at the same time. I can sense that something is not quite right, judging on how his voice sounds. Upon sitting down, I see a cluster of files on the holographic desk. I look at the files, and notice one that catches my attention. I reach over and open the file.

"Dad? Is this the Tesseract that you have told me about?" I ask, looking at my dad for an answer.

"Yes."

"What happened to it?"

"Went missing. Director Fury asked me to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D., and he has requested me to bring you along as well. He said that you don't have to, but he feels that you would be of some use, considering what happened to you when you were little."

He was referring to the Super Soldier serum that coursed through my veins. I was kidnapped when I was young, so I do not know what really happened to me, but I do remember the name of the liquid they injected into my system for some reason. Unfortunately, the serum messed up my hearing to the point where I was profoundly deaf. I do not know the full extent of my abilites, but I have a feeling that my dad is hiding something from me.

I scan the rest of the files, and another one catches my eye. It says _Captain Steven Grant Rogers._ Curious, I open the file and was skimming through it when I realized something.

"Dad... How come you never told me about this guy?" I say as I send the file over to him through the air.

"You will get to meet him later," he says as he puts the file down. I look at him warily. I just sigh and get up to start my day, which consits of either helping my dad out in the shop or working my horse. Yes, I do have a horse. I'll tell you more about him later.


	2. Chapter 2: Shocking Discovery

**Stark: **Is the story about me?  
**JML Ranch: **Not entirely. The Avengers are in the story, so grow up.  
**Stark: **I refuse to grow up.  
**JML Ranch****: ***gives Stark the evil eye* Don't test me. I am the writer, so I control what happens to you. For all you know, you could die next chapter or not.  
**Clint and Natasha: **BURN  
**Natasha:** I like her. She knows what she's talking about.  
**JML Ranch:** Why, thank you Natasha.  
**Stark:** Why are you two even here? I thought you were still in Budapest.  
**JML Ranch and Natasha:** *eye twitches*  
**Stark:** Uh-oh. I'm outta here. *puts on suit and flies off*  
**Clint:** While JML Ranch and Natasha are planning revenge on Stark, here's Chapter Two. Oh, and nothing happened in Budapest. Whatever you heard is nothing but rumors.

* * *

My dad had said that he needed to stay behind at Stark Tower for a little bit longer, so I had gone ahead and left to go to S.H.I.E.L.D the next morning. With my dad being Iron Man, I had quite a few armors to choose from, and I had chosen my favorite one. My dad loves his hot-rod colors, red and gold, which I think is silly. I prefer the maroon and white color of Texas A&M University, which is a college I dream of going to. I land on the deck of the helicarrier, and I see someone waiting on the deck.

"Nat!" I call out as I run over to her, my suit collapsing into a metal vest on my chest. I already had met her and Clint when I was younger, and they were like my aunt and uncle in a way.

"Julie! Welcome aboard! How have you been?" Natasha answered as I pick her up in a hug. I'm pretty tall, 6 feet tall to be exact.

"Pretty good. First time for me to be here on the helicarrier. My dad has told me a lot about it though," I reply. Normally I would just use my voice but whenever I'm with Nat or Clint I tend to use both my voice and sign language. Nat and I headed down below deck to stow my gear, then we were standing outside just chattering away when a Quinjet lands in front of us. I see two men step out. One man is obviously a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, but the other man looks like he is from somewhere else.

"Agent Romanoff, this is Captain Steve Rogers," the S.H.I.E.L.D agent says, introducing Nat to the stranger. For some reason, he looks eerily familiar to me. I then realize who he was. His file was among the ones that my dad was looking at last night.

"Julie? I want to introduce you to Captain Rogers," Nat says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I walk over to where they were standing.

"I'm Julie Stark, Tony Stark's daughter. Just call me Julie, please," I say as I extend my hand out.

"I'm Captain Steve Rogers. Just call me Steve," he replies as he shakes my hand.

_Ugh, you like him don't you girl? Get over it, your dad would flip if he knew how you felt right now, _I thought to myself.

"Julie, you need to report to Director Fury, he wants to talk to you about something," Nat suddenly says to me. I ask her where he is, and she tells me where to go.

"Something's different about her," Steve comments to Nat.

"Long story. You'll get to find out more about her because her dad has asked us to run some tests on her. He thinks she may have the Super Solider serum. It's the only explaintation as to her size and strength," Nat answers.

"What? She could have the same serum as me?" Steve says, in shock.

"Yes, and Fury just radioed me. He wants us to come down to the training room. They are preparing to run tests to see just how powerful she is."

I was down in the training room, already in my workout clothes, which consisted of a tank top and gym shorts. I was sitting on the bench nervous, because I knew I finally would get to try out my abilites. Just then, I spot Steve and he flashes me a soft smile. I smile back, which helped ease my nerves somewhat.

"Alright Julie. We are going to start the test now. I want you to try to knock this bag off its chains by just punching," Fury instructes me.

"Sir, yes sir!" I answer as I stand up to start the test. I stand in front of the bag and start punching away, starting off light to warm myself up. Slowly I build up the force of each punch. I slowly start to concetrate harder and harder on knocking the bag off its chains. Then I suddenly yell as I punch the bag with all of my strength, causing the bag to nearly tear into two and slam into the wall hard. I just stand there for a moment, shocked at what I just did. I look at my hands for a moment, the reality sinking in that I did indeed have something special.

"Wow. I'm impressed by both your control and strength. All I asked you to do was knock the bag off the chains, but you gave me more- you just about cut the bag into two," Fury says, chuckling a little bit.

"Yes sir, I did. I just figured why not just give it my best," I reply as I pull the wraps off of my hands. Just at that moment, a man comes into the room holding a paper.

"Fury, I think you need to know this. It's Julie's bloodwork," he explains as he hands Fury the paper. "Hello, I'm Dr. Bruce Banner, but you can call me Bruce."

"Hello Bruce, I'm Julie Stark," I answer. I look at Fury and he is staring at the paper in shock.

"Dr. Banner, are you SURE this is correct?" Fury asks.

"Yes I am. I ran the tests a few times. I even compared her bloodwork to Steve's. It's a exact match."

"What is a exact match?" I ask, confused by the looks I was getting.

"Julie... You're the second Super Soldier," Fury replies. Steve walks into the room.

"Who's the second Super Soldier?" he asks, having heard the last part.

"That would be me. They managed to make the exact same serum as they used on you and they put it into me," I reply. "It explains a lot of things, but it sure as hell doesn't explain my hearing loss."

"Hearing loss?" Steve asks, slightly alarmed.


	3. Chapter 3: Hearing Loss Explained

**JML Ranch:** Where is that Stark? He had better get back before I snatch one of his suits and go look for him.  
**Natasha:** YOU want to steal one of Stark's suits?  
**JML Ranch:** Yep. Why do you ask?  
**Natasha:** Hmmm. Let's do that anyways. I have a few ideas of what we can do with it... *evil smile*  
**JML Ranch:** Oooo... Sounds like a marvelous plan. I have a few ideas as well. *evil laughter*  
**Clint:** Uh-oh. Better go get the others soon... Things are going to get bad, and fast. Anyways! Here's Chapter 3!

* * *

"Right after they gave me the serum, I slowly lost my hearing until I could not hear anything. I have a feeling that the serum may have reacted with my system in a way that is unexplainable, and I probably will never find out why," I say as the others stared at me in shock.

"Tony told me that you would be coming, but he sure as hell didn't tell me about your disability!" Fury yelled. I hated the word, disability. It makes me feel like they think I can't do anything.

"I don't see my hearing loss as a _disability,_" I say angrily, stressing on the word disability. "I merely see it as a lifelong challenge I will have to endure everyday. I grow stronger everyday because of my challenge. Yes, it does make things tough for me, but I don't give a damn. I refuse to allow anyone to tell me that I can't do what I know I can do."

The room was silent. I contuined talking.

"Growing up, I never had very many friends, mostly because of my dad being Iron Man, but I have also been held back from doing what I wanted. If any of y'all think you can stop me from participating on missions, think again. I don't back down from a fight."

I left the training room, furious that my dad's boss would treat me like that. I just kept walking until I reached an balcony that allowed me to look around outside. I stared out the window, wishing that my dad was here because he would know what to do. After a few minutes, I hear footsteps and look to see that it was Steve approaching.

"Are you alright?" he asks me.

I sigh. "Still kind of mad at Fury for treating me like that. I just wish my dad would hurry up and get here already. I'm already beginning to think that maybe I don't beling here on the helicarrier."

"That's not true. I honestly think you belong here on the helicarrier. Fury doesn't realize it, but I think we could use your help. I'm mad at him too for treating you so badly. I did not even know you couldn't hear until a couple of minutes ago," he replies, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I smile a little. "Thanks Steve. So... I hear that you were frozen in the ice for over seventy years." He sighed as the memories began to resurface.

"I- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories," I apologize as I see his expression change.

"No, it's okay. Yes, I was frozen in the ice for over seventy years."


	4. Chapter 4: Uncovering the Past

**JML Ranch: **Teehee, we got Stark really good...  
**Clint:** Never a good thing when Natasha gets involved in a revenge plot... I hope they didn't blow up Stark's suit.  
**JML Ranch:** We didn't blow it up. We just... um... 'modified' a few things. Right, Natasha?  
**Natasha:** Yes. We just... 'modified' a few things.  
**Steve:** What's this I hear about a revenge plot on Mr. Stark?  
**JML Ranch:** *pulls Steve aside* *tells him what Stark did and what Natasha and she did to the suit*  
**Steve:** Oh my... I have to admit, that will be funny. However, there is one thing that you two could still do to the suit that I have always wanted to do, and this is the perfect opportunity... *evil smirk*  
**Natasha and JML Ranch:** We're listening.  
**Clint:** Lord have mercy... Now Steve's in on it too... ANYWAYS here's Chapter 4!

* * *

Steve told me about his friends that he had before he was frozen. Bucky had been one of his best friends while growing up in Brooklyn. He smiled as he told me various stories about what he did before World War II broke out.

"Bucky would have loved to meet you. I think he would have gotten a big kick out of the fact that you are the granddaughter of the late Howard Stark."

"Howard Stark? My dad doesn't really talk much about him," I say quietly.

"I knew him pretty well. Similar personality, except not quite as..." he trails off, trying to find the right words.

"Self-centered?"

"That's it. He was also behind the Super Soldier program during the war," he answers. I look at him in surprise.

"Really? Wow. Sure wish my dad would tell me more about him," I say in awe.

"How did you end up with the serum in your system? Just curious," he asks me.

"I was kidnapped when I was around ten. I don't really remember a lot, but I do recall seing a strange man. His head was all red and looked like a skull. He would come into the room I was held captative in and beat me..." I trail off, trying not to cry because of the bad memory.

"Wait a minute... the man's head looked like a skull and was bright red?" He asks me gently. I nodded my head.

"Crap. I thought that guy was dead. I had to deal with him during the war. His name was Red Skull." I snap my head up at the mention of the name. We exchanged looks and knew we needed to tell Fury sooner or later. My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out. It was a text message from Nat.

_Your dad is here. And Fury wants everyone in the control room ASAP, _the message read.

"Well... my dad is here. Gotta run. See you in a while, Steve," I say as I leave to go to my room.

"Likewise, ma'am," Steve calls after me. Gosh, he is such a gentleman. Wish my dad was more like him. I quickly change out of my workout clothes and put on my favorite pair of jeans and boots. I decide to wear my armor on the outside. It looks like a vest, but it really is made from metal. I look in the mirror to make sure my hair did not look bad. Surprisly, it did not. I make my way to the control room, which is enormous. I see a table and sit down to wait for everyone else.

**AN: Oh my... Julie and Captain have a common enemy!**


	5. Chapter 5: Loki and Germany

**JML Ranch:** Hey, Stark's back.  
**Natasha:** Wonder if he found his suit yet?  
**Steve:** JARVIS, show live video feed of Mr. Stark, please.  
**JARVIS:** Yes sir. *pulls up live video feed*  
**Clint:** What did you three do to his suit?  
**Bruce:** What's going on? Why is there a live video feed of Stark?  
**JML Ranch:** One word: Prank.  
**Bruce:** Oh. What did you do for the prank?  
**Natasha:** You're about to find out. Watch the video.  
**JML Ranch:** And he's about to get pranked in 3...2...1...  
**Stark (on video):** *lets out a girlish scream* Who messed with my suit?  
**Natasha:** *laughing* JML Ranch, your idea of changing the suit to look like a girl was awesome!  
**JML Ranch:** And letting Steve help me paint it was the icing on the cake! *falls to floor laughing*  
**Steve:** *laughing so hard he can't say anything*  
**Clint:** I never heard Stark scream like a woman before...  
**Bruce:** Same here. But that prank was just perfect. I don't think he will figure out who pulled the prank. Steve, I never thought you were the kind of person to pull a prank.  
**Steve:** Oh, I used to pull pranks all the time with my best friend before the war. Been a long time since I pulled or helped with a prank. Back to the story! Here's Chapter 5!

* * *

I sat at the table in the control room, scanning for any danger. It was out of habit, due to my supposed hearing loss. No one else knew that I actually had my hearing back, not even my dad. I saw Steve walk in, and hand Fury $10. I smiled to myself because I knew they had made some sort of bet. I was lost in some daydream when I heard someone yell.

"We have a 35% match. Scratch that, make it 76% match. He's not exactly hiding," an agent shouted.

"Location?" Fury inquired.

"Stussenberg, Germany"

"Captain, Julie. You're up," Fury ordered.

I get up quickly and run to my room to retrieve a different armor. It's disgused as a watch, and I remove my vest/armor, tossing it onto my bed. I feel my phone vibrate, and I pull it out. The message was from Fury, telling me I needed to meet Steve and Nat at jet 3. I get to the jet at the same time as Nat.

"Do you have a suit?" she asked, confused as to why I was still in normal clothes. I just smile and press a button on my watch. The watch starts to transform into a suit. I feel the armor against my body as it transforms. The screen is blank. _Activate,_ I think to myself. The screen lights up.

"That will do," she nodded in approval. The helmet collapses, revealing my head. Just then I see Steve walk into the jet.

Holy cow. He looked good in his suit.

"You guys ready?" he asked. Nat and I nod our head, indicating that we were ready to go. I sit down in one of the side seats, and Steve sits across from me.

"Nice suit. Make it yourself?"

"Yes. I've never had to actually use it. This one is my combat armor," I answer.

"Have you tried it out before?"

"Yes I have. It's indestructible. Not even a nuclear bomb could blow this thing apart. Got enough ammuntion to sustain an army for a month. I call it the Hell-fire."

"What is the outer layer made from?"

"Vibratium."

"That's the same stuff as my shield is made from." He looks at me in surprise. "That should protect you very well. I thought that my shield was all that there was. I was wrong."

"Guys, we're close. I'm going to have to drop you two off a block away," Nat informed us. My helmet quickly pops up and encases my head.

"Need a ride down?" I ask Steve.

"I think I'm good," he answers as the door opens. I jump out first and right before I hit the ground, I turn on my repulsors, but only for a second because I didn't want anyone to hear me. I look up.

"Come on, Steve. I'll catch you," I call up.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. I'm stronger than I look," I hold my arms out.

"Alright..." he jumps out of the door. I quickly flip up my mask so I can see better, and I catch Steve with ease. He looks at me, obviously surprised and impressed. I just grin as I set him down. He motions for me to follow him. We move to where we can see the scene better.

"Who is that guy?" I whisper.

"Loki," he answers, clearly not happy. I can hear Loki talking, but not very clearly. I watch with intent, trying to figure out what his next move was. Then I saw an old man stand up.

"Not to men like you," The old man spoke.

"There are no men like me," Loki smirked.

"There always will be men like you," the old man spat. Loki pointed his scepter at the old man and was about to kill him when Steve jumped in front of him with his shield.

"The last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above all the others, we had a disagreement," Steve walked towards Loki.

"The solider. The man out of time," Loki sneered as he stood up.

"He's not out of time," I reply as I land next to Steve. I hear the Quinjet move into postition behind us. I hear Nat's voice come on over the speaker.

"Put the weapon down," she ordered. Loki shot at Nat, but she managed to dodge the shot. I quickly shoot at him, causing him to fly backwards. Steve throws his shield as he charges Loki. Loki manages to knock the shield away and starts to fight hand-to-hand. I groan slightly in frustration because I can't get a clear shot on Loki without hurting Steve. All of a sudden Loki tries to force Steve to the ground.

"Kneel," Loki growls.

"Not today!" Steve cries as he kicks Loki in the head. Then I hear loud music. I recongize it as my dad's favorite- Shoot to Thrill. Before my dad could hit Loki, I fire the repulsors on my hands and chest at Loki, causing Loki to slam into the steps hard.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games," Dad said as he armed everything on his armor. I did the same. Loki held his hands up in surrender as his armor disappered.

"Good move," Dad said as he disarmed everything. I quickly do the same as Steve steps between me and Dad.

"Mr. Stark," Steve said.

"Dad." I say calmly.

"Captain. Julie," Dad replied. I walk over to Loki and pick him up, putting handcuffs on him. We all head onto the Quinjet. I tie Loki to a seat on the side as Nat take off. I walk over to Steve and Dad, who were standing near the back of the plane.

"I don't remember it being easy. This guy packs a wallop," Steve deadpans.

"What, Rock of Ages giving up so easy?" Dad sasses. I give Dad a warning look to can it. He just rolls his eyes at me. Steve just shakes his head at Dad.

"Still... You're pretty spry for an older guy. What's your thing, Pliates?" Dad teases. Steve looks at him in confusion. "It's like cathesis. You may have missed a few things doing time as a Capiscle."

"Dad!" I exclaim as I whack him on the back of his head. "Be thankful I didn't do that with my armor on my hand..." Steve bit his mouth to try not to smile, but I could see the amusement in his eyes. I saw Loki flinch as thunder rumbled outside.

"What, are you scared of thunder?" Steve teases.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki replys, clearly nervous. I then realize who he was talking about. Thor. All of a sudden, the plane lurches as something lands on it. Dad puts his helmet on and opens the back. I look at him like he was sudical. I see Thor hit Dad hard, causing him to fly back into Steve and me. Thor grabs Loki, and leaves the plane.

"I need to go after them! If he kills Loki, the Tesseract is lost forever!" Dad hollers over the storm.

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Steve orders.

"I have a plan- Attack." Dad flies off into the night. I groan because I knew that Dad was being foolish. Steve grabs a parachute and starts to put it on.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap," Nat warns.

"I don't see how I can," Steve replies.

"Are you crazy? They're basically gods!" Nat exclaims.

"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that," Steve interjects. "You're coming with me, Julie."

"Yes sir!" I answer as I follow Steve out the back of the jet. He free-falls for a few minutes before he opens the parachute. I go ahead and land near the edge of a clearing that Dad and Thor were in. I knew better than to charge in between the two, considering how powerful Thor was. Steve walks up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder. I turn to him to say something, but the look he gave me made me change my mind. I knew he had a plan on how to stop them. All I could do was stand by and watch as Dad and Thor fought. I had to smile when Thor tried to shock Dad and all it did was boost his suit's power to 400%. After a few more minutes, Steve and I jumped up onto a log.

"That's enough!" he yells as he throws his shield. "Now I don't know what you are planning on doing here..."

"I've come to put a end to Loki's schemes," Thor bellowed.

"Prove it then. Put your hammer down."

"Good idea... No! Bad call! He loves his hammer!" Dad cried out. Thor just hits him in the chest, knocking him backwards. Thor jumps into the air, raising his hammer. I gasp in horror as I realize what is about to happen. Steve pulls me down, protecting us with his shield. The hammer hits the shield, and a thunderous boom goes off, knocking Thor back. The force of the impact knocks me to the ground, causing me to lose my breath for a moment. Steve gets up pretty quickly, then reaches out to me with his hand, offering to pull me up. I reach up, my armor undoing itself from my hand so I did not hurt Steve. He pulls me to my feet with amazing ease. I felt a little bit unsteady on my feet, and Steve must have realized this because he pulls me close and wraps one arm around me.

"Are we done now?" Steve asks Dad and Thor. They both nod their head in agreement, looking at the ground in shame.

"Are you okay?" he asks me. I just nod my head. He relaxes a little bit. I look up at him. I just smile as I reach up and pull his helmet off, revealing his face and dirty blond hair. He looks at me, smiling, and taps my facemask. The helmet disappears into my body armor, revealing my short brown hair. Just then I notice Dad looking at me, making a funny expression. I just merely ignore him as I hear the Quinjet approach.

**AN: Awww... Do y'all think Steve and Julie will get together?**


	6. Chapter 6: More Surprises!

**Stark:** All right, who messed with my suit?  
**Steve, Natasha, and JML Ranch:** Not us.  
**Stark:** *leaves the room, but still in hearing range*  
**JML Ranch:** He won't catch us.  
**Steve:** I hope so. The last thing I want is to be pranked by Stark. He's pretty good at it.  
**JML Ranch:** If he pranks any of us, I will make sure he will never prank us ever again... *evil grin*  
**Stark:** *to himself, still out of sight* So, it was Steve and JML Ranch, huh? I think there's one more person...  
**Natasha:** But the prank we did was totally worth it. I wouldn't mind doing that prank again.  
**JML Ranch:** Same here.  
**Steve:** Same.  
**Stark:** *walking to his shop* SO it was JML Ranch, Natasha and Capiscle that pulled the prank. I never thought that Capiscle would pull a prank, but... Oh well. I'll still get them all. ANYWAYS, here's Chapter 6!

* * *

**AN: Sorry if I mess up on some parts! I'm doing some parts based on memory only!**

I was standing on a balcony aboard the helicarrier, staring off into space. A set of arms snaked around me, and I recognized them to be Steve's.

"Hey, you okay?" he whispered in my ear.

"Mmm. Not really," I answer.

"What's the matter?" he asks.

I sigh. I haven't told him about my hearing.

"It's about my hearing loss. No one else knows about this, but... I can hear like a normal person can during the day. At night, I do not hear anything at all. Right now, if I took this off," gesturing to my hearing device, "I can hear everything. But when I go to sleep, that goes away. I know because when I wake up I do not hear anything for a few minutes."

"Woah. That's pretty strange... I remember you saying something about the serum messing your hearing up," he remarks.

"That's what I think is happening to me. I have had the serum in me for only ten years, and I'm still adjusting to it a little bit. You have had that in you for way longer than I," I turn around and smile at him as I said the last part. "For someone who could easily be my grandfather, you look like you're only in your 20's."

He smiles at me. Gosh, his smile made my heart go into overdrive. "Do you have any idea how old I really am?" he asks.

"Hmm... 90?" I answer.

"Very close. 92."

"Now you're making me feel like a little kid all over again," I tease him. He just laughs and then looks into my eyes. Oh man... his soft blue eyes were making me feel weak.

"Avengers and Julie, please report to the Control Room," Agent Hill orders over the PA system. Steve and I make our way to the control room, beating everyone else there. I sit down, and all of a sudden I feel drained of all energy. I haven't slept in a few days, and it was finally starting to take its toll on me. I can feel a pair of eyes looking at me, and I knew it was Steve. I look to my right, and I see that Steve was sitting next to me.

"You look tired," I comment.

"Not as tired as you look," he answers, moving his chair so it was next to mine.

"I haven't really slept since I got on the ship. I think I haven't slept for four or five days. I can stay up for more than a week, but considering all the excitement I had in the last few days, I think I will be a walking corpse in another day or two," I joke. I lean back in my chair, and discover that Steve had put his arm behind me. I feel his hand squeeze my shoulder gently, kind of pulling me closer to him. I relaxed as I rested my head on his shoulder. I was about to fall asleep when Thor and Bruce walked in. They both raised their eyebrows at Steve and me.

They were about to say something to me when I cut them off. "Don't. Best if y'all just left me alone right now." I say in a voice that sounded very dull and tired.

"I'd listen to her. I would hate to get on her bad side. I haven't seen her angry yet, but I just know that if I did something to aggravate her, I would be a dead man," Steve spoke up, making it very clear that I needed to be left alone. A video feed appeared on the table in front of me and Steve. We could see that Loki was in a cage.

"In case you don't understand..." Fury stated as he pressed some buttons, causing a door to open beneath the cage. Loki walked close to the edge to look down.

"It's a 30,000 feet drop straight down in a steel trap. Do you get how that works?" Fury shouted over the roaring air. "Ant. Boot."

Loki just chuckled, a laugh that send chills through me. "It's impressive. But it's not built for me, I think."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh I've heard. A mindless beast. One you can't hope to control."

I tuned Loki out after that, not wanting to hear what else he had to say.

"Well, let me know when real power wants a magazine or something," Fury says sarcastically. The video disappears from the table. I was so tired I did not pay attention to what everyone else was talking about. After a few minutes, everyone except for Steve and me left the Control Room.

"Julie? We need to go." Steve said softly after a few minutes, breaking the silence.

"Alright," I answer. I stand up, stretching a little bit. I gently wrap my arms around myself, still feeling very drowsy. Steve stands up and puts one arm around me, pulling me close.

"I think I could use a cup of coffee," I remark.

"Me too," Steve agrees. We both make our way to the cafe, and order our coffees. After we order, we find a spot to sit down. It was not long before we got our coffee.

"Let's walk towards where Dad and Bruce are working," I suggest to Steve. "We can drink our coffee on the way."

"Let's do that," Steve replies as we head out of the cafe. We walk along the hall in silence, just sipping on the coffee.

"Can I ask you something?" Steve asks.

"Sure." I answer.

"What is it like having to put up with Tony?"

"To be honest, I have no idea how I do that. I just can. Yes, he can be a pain the neck at times, but he really cares about me. I know that it may seem impossible that he would actually take someone in, let alone someone who can't hear. But he did. When I first met him, he was a disaster. He told me that he used to drink all the time until he found me that day. He cleaned up, and started taking better care of himself. He's like my second father," I answer truthfully.

"Huh. I think that's amazing that he just took you in."

"It is." I answer as I hear a yelp from the lab. Steve runs in the lab before me.

"Are you nuts?" he interjects at Dad, who had a pointy thing in his hand.

"Jury's out. You really do have a lid on it don't you. What's your secret? Jazz, bongs, a giant bag of weed?" Dad teases Bruce.

"Dad, is everything a joke to you?" I exclaim.

"Funny things are." Dad replies.

"Threatening everyone's safety on the ship is not funny, Mr. Stark," Steve replies sternly. I just roll my eyes at Dad and walk over to where Bruce was.

"Can I help you, Bruce?" I whispered.

"Sure. Can you look at this for me? I would like a second opinion on the algorithm." he answers. I look at the equation, and I see a few things that are wrong.

"Do you mind if I modified it a little bit? If you don't want me to, I understand." I ask politely.

"Feel free to change the equation as you see fit. It's not working as fast as I thought," Bruce answers. I nod my head and I start making changes to the equation. I was in deep concentration when Dad got my attention.

"What do you think?" Dad asked. I shot him a look, annoyed that he would bother me when it was so obvious that I was in the middle of something.

"I'm not paying any attention to your conversation. I'm in the middle of something over here, and you just had to interrupt my train of thought. Thanks a lot, Dad." I answer angrily. I went back to what I was doing, and was finished in a few minutes.

"Hey Bruce? This should speed things up for you," I say as I show him the modified equation.

"Huh. Good job, Julie. That's better than what I had," Bruce replied as he patted my shoulder. I look up and I see that Steve has an annoyed look on his face.

"Who is A, wearing a spangly uniform and B, not of use?" Dad sasses at Steve.

"Just find the Cube," Steve deadpans, turning to me. "Are you going to stay here and help?"

"Actually, I think they are good here. Unless Bruce wants me to stay a little bit longer," I reply, looking to Bruce.

"I'm good here. Thanks for your help, Julie," he answers. I step out into the hall where Steve was waiting for me.

"Did you hear what was going on in there?" he asks me.

"No. Sorry, I was busy helping Bruce out with the tracking equation," I answer. "Why?"

"Do you know about Phase 2?" When I shook my head, he continued. "I think Fury is hiding something, and I want to find out what it is. I'm not waiting on your dad and his tech."

He grabs my hand and we head to a part of the ship I barely recognized. It was a corridor that was blocked off and hardly anyone walks back here. Suddenly, Steve stops in front of me.

"What is it Steve?" I ask, slightly alarmed. He turns around and pulls me in close, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I... I-I want to... tell you something..." he stammers. I look at him, slightly perplexed. He usually doesn't really stumble on his words like this.

"I... I think I'm in love with you," he finally says after a moment. I look at him in surprise. He bites his lower lip, obviously nervous about how I would react. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck, looking into his eyes.

"Steve... I've fallen in love with you already, and it hurts a lot," I whisper to him, smiling softly. We both lean in closer and closer to each other until our foreheads touched. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. Then I felt his lips softly meet mine. I gasped softly, surprised by the contact. I leaned into the kiss, feeling the sparks course through my body. We pulled apart gently, slightly out of breath. I then knew that there was no doubt that we were both in love with each other. We stood there for a moment, before Steve unwrapped his arms from me and intertwined his fingers with mine.

"Let's go find out what Phase 2 is all about," he says as we walk towards a door. I see that we need a card to get in, and I don't have one. I groan in frustration.

"We can't get in without a card," I mutter to myself.

"I have another way," Steve replies. He steps to the door and simply pries it open with sheer strength. We walk into the room and see that there is only one way into the room. I look up and see a second level. Without really thinking, I jump up onto the side of the railing and swing over. I land on my feet, not making a single sound. Steve follows me, doing the same thing. I walk forward, and I spot some suspicous boxes. Steve and I exchange looks. We both walk over the boxes, and I open one. Inside it was a weapon, a weapon that neither of us had seen before.

It was Phase 2.

**AN: Ahhh! Steve and Julie finally admits their feelings for each other! **

**R and R! Comments and suggestions are welcome!**

**Also... I need to come up with a couple name for Steve and Julie!**


	7. Chapter 7: New Power

**Clint:** Where are the others?  
**Bruce:** I have no clue. Oh, here comes Steve.  
**Steve:** *cursing angrily under his breath*  
**Clint:** O_o I didn't know you knew that many swear words... What did Stark do to you?  
**Steve:** He got my shield and repainted it with neon colors...  
**Bruce:** Oh dear... That's bad. And not a very nice prank, I may add.  
**JML Ranch:** *walks in with a smirk*  
**Steve:** What happened to your hair?  
**JML Ranch:** Stark put some dye in my shampoo. Now my hair is a sliver color. I actually like it... Prank backfired on Stark this time.  
**Natasha:** *walks in with a murderous look on her face*  
**JML Ranch:** O_o Uh... Natasha, what happened? You look like you're ready to kill Stark...  
**Natasha:** He took my guns... And I have no idea where they went. He also took my taser gloves.  
**JML Ranch:** Grrr... That Stark gets on my nerves...  
**Steve:** I'll second that...  
**Bruce:** What are you guys going to do now?  
**Natasha:** Well, I think he needs a prank to end the pranks.  
**Bruce:** I think I have just the prank... *evil scientist grin*  
**JML Ranch:** Uh-oh. I think I'm going to just stay out of this one...  
**Steve:** Same here. Anyways, here's Chapter 7!

* * *

Steve and I march along the hall, his hand intertwined with mine. He had the gun in his other hand.

"I can't believe Fury would lie to all of us about this!" Steve mutters angrily.

"I'll agree with you on that," I answer. I was struggling to stay calm though, because I had a secret that even I did not really know what it was, I knew that if I lost control of my anger that I may be putting everyone on the ship in danger. We arrive at the lab.

"What is Phase 2?" Dad asks just as Steve and I walk in.

"Phase 2 is this," Steve says as he set the gun down on the table. "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Phase 2 is what S.H.I.E.L.D uses to make-" Fury began but was cut off.

"Weapons? You were using the Tesseract to make weapons of mass destruction? Of all people, you should know better than to do that! Dad used to be in that business until he became Iron Man!" I snapped.

"Why did you do that?" Steve shot back at Fury.

"Because of him." Fury answered, pointing to Thor.

"Me?" Thor exclaimed.

"Last year, we had a visitor from another planet level a small town. We discovered that not only are we not alone- we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

"Yeah, because having a nuclear weapon calms everything right back down," Dad sasses.

"Remind me how you made your fortune, Mr. Stark," Fury growled at Dad.

"ENOUGH!" I roar. The room goes silent. Everyone is staring at me, and some of them goes for their guns.

"Julie... Look at what you have in your hand..." Steve says with a edge of fear in his voice. I look and realize that I had Loki's scepter in my hand. I gulped and put it back on the stand quickly.

"I don't know what came over me..." I trail off.

"Julie. Your eyes changed color. One was all brown, but the other was still blue, but it was a much lighter shade of blue." Steve informs me. Then a explosion goes off, knocking me to the floor. I groan in pain and anger, mad at whoever caused the explosion. I saw a big hole in the floor and saw that Bruce was transforming into the Hulk.

"Julie are you alright?" Steve asks, alarmed.

"Get out. I don't know how much control I have over this thing..." I say in a deeper voice. I groan in pain as I felt everything change. I hear Hulk roar below me, and I try my best not to do the same, but the pain was too great. I let out a earsplitting roar that shook the entire ship. Finally the pain ended. I opened my eyes, realizing that I had complete control over the other guy. I get up, and realize that I am half horse. I had the upper body of a man, but the hind legs of a horse. I slowly get up, trying not to hit my head on things. I reach up to rub my head, and discover that I have the head of a horse. Slowly, I look at my own reflection and realize who I looked like.

I looked exactly like my horse that I had several years ago.

Shaking my head, I walk along the hall, looking for the others. I listen carefully and I can hear Steve and Dad in the distance. I reach the engine that had been blown up, and see a bunch of guys shooting at someone outside. I let out a low snarl, causing them to turn around. They scream in fear and jump off the carrier. I step out to see what was going on, grateful that I could finally stand up to my full height. I spot Steve struggling to get back on the ship, and when he does, he reaches for a red lever. He pulls it all the way, then collapses on the floor. After a few moments, he notices me.

"Tony... Come look for a moment," Steve calls out. I hear a roar of rockets and then Dad is next to Steve. They both stare at me, not sure who I was.

"Hey Dad. Steve. It's me, Julie. I know I look like a freak right now, but thankfully I have complete control over it," I call out, trying to reassure them.

"Well... You're much bigger than the Hulk, that's for sure," Dad says. Steve looks at me, flabbergasted.

"Can you change back to a normal person?" Steve asks after a moment.

"Not sure. Hope I can though," I reply.

"How long have you known about this?"

I sigh. I have had this condition for most of my life, and today was the first time for me to completely transform.

"A long time. I have had this longer than the serum," I confess. "Today is the first time I have actually gone all the way. I had come close a few times, but every time I was able to stop it. That is, until today."

"Why not today?" Steve asks.

"Because of all the drama that happened prior to the explosion. I hadn't exactly calmed all the way down when the explosion occurred. It was simply too much for me to handle. In a way, I'm kind of glad it happened. Otherwise I would have never known that I had complete control of myself."

"Guys... Coulson's down," Agent Hill's voice came on through the radio. I look at Steve, and he had a stunned expression on his face. I had known Coulson for as long as I knew Dad. I stepped back inside, having at least shrunk down enough that I could stand comfortably. Steve came up next to me, and I gently place my hands on his shoulders. I pull him in close to me, knowing that he was hurting. He tensed up for a moment, slightly surprised by my action. Then I feel him relax into me, burying his head into my chest. Dad does not say anything, but leaves Steve and me alone. I place the side of my head on top of his, my muzzle resting lightly on his shoulder. I knew that Steve was trying his best not to break down, but I heard him sob softly into my chest. After a few minutes, he calmed down enough to look up at me. I was now towering above him, still not having gone back to my normal state yet.

"Aren't you going to change back?" Steve asks me. I shake my head no. I wanted whoever was left on the ship to see me in this form.

"What will Fury do to you if he sees you like this?" Steve says, slightly nervous.

"I can handle him. Sometimes I wonder if Dad is worse than him," I answer. He laughs a little at my comment.

"Let's go back to the Control Room. Do you think you could get any shorter? I feel like a midget compared to you right now," Steve teases me.

"You're not a midget, Steve. Besides, if I tried to go any shorter right now, I may start changing back into a person, and I have nothing to cover my top. I would die of embarrassment." I tease back.

We walk back along the hall, running into Nat and Clint.

"Steve! Who is that guy next to you?" Nat exclaims.

"Nat. Take a chill pill, dude. It's me, Julie," I answer.

"Well, I'll be damned. What the hell are you?"

"Half man, half horse. I need to show Fury. I have had this for a long time, and until today, I was not sure what exactly it was."

We all arrive in the Control Room. Several agents gawk at me for a moment, but I merely ignore them. I realize that I can't sit in a chair, so I just sit down on the floor. I decide to allow the other guy to increase in size.

"Can I sit on your lap?" Steve whispers to me. I nod my head, and he sits down on my lap. He leans back onto me, and I wrap my arms around him, pulling him closer. Dad walks in, and spies Steve sitting in my lap.

"You two look cute together. Julie, I never knew that you had an anger issue like Brucey does," Dad comments.

"At least I have control. Poor Bruce can't control his other guy like I can control mine. But I have to get mad first then calm down before I can get complete control," I answer.

"Huh. So if you're pissed off, you basically go bonkers?"

"I have never been angered enough for that to happen. Not very easy to piss me off," I shrugged. "Now if you'll shut up, I think poor Steve is trying to sleep."

Dad nods and sits down in a chair. I look down at Steve and notice that he has fallen asleep. For some reason, I felt relaxed knowing that at least we were safe for now. I was about to drift off into a light sleep when Fury came in, waking me up.

"Who the hell are you?" Fury boomed, causing Steve to wake up.

"Julie. And you just had to wake up Steve. Thanks a lot," I say sarcastically, feeling bad for Steve.

"What do you want Fury?" Steve asked, sounding very tired and a tad bit cranky.

"These were in Coulson's jacket," Fury threw down some cards on the table. "I guess he never got you to sign them."

I picked one up and saw that it was Coulson's trading cards. I knew that Steve had to feel pretty lousy about that right now.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. But I wasn't putting all my chips on that. I was playing something even riskier. There's an idea, Stark knows about this, called the Avengers Iniative. We were going to gather a group of remarkable people and see if they could work together and become something more." Fury explains.

Dad gets up and just leaves the room.

"Now... Julie, care to explain why you look like that?" Fury asks me.

"I'm not sure... I think I was born this way. Today is the first time in my life that I have ever transformed completely. All the other times, I was able to suppress it successfully. But I couldn't today. In a way, it could have been bad for all of us, but it actually turned out to be for the better. I discovered that I am able to control him completely. It's strange for me to be in this form right now, so I may stay like this for a few days. I would like to be able to get along with the other guy a little bit better. I'm thankful that this is nowhere nearly as dangerous as Banner's," I answer.

"Acceptable. Did Captain fall asleep again?" he asks, pointing to Steve. I look down, and he had drifted off to sleep again. I nodded my head.

"I'll take him to his quarters. He could use the rest," I answer quietly, not wanting to wake Steve up again. I gathered Steve up into my arms and walked down the hall

"Aww. He's tired isn't he?" Nat comments as she passes me in the hall.

"He is," I answer, smiling. I reach Steve's room at last, and I realize that I have to figure out how to open the door without waking Steve up. Luckily, Dad happens to be passing me.

"Need a little help?" Dad asks. I nod my head. Dad reaches for the door and opens it.

"Thanks Dad."

"Anytime. You like Capiscle, don't you?" Dad teases. I just smirk at him and use my foot to close the door. I was about to set Steve down on the bed when he made a soft sound.

"Don't. Please stay..." Steve whimpers softly. My heart felt like it was going to fall into a million pieces when I hear him whimper. I grab some pillows and sit down along a bare spot on the wall. I realize that I need sleep too. I look down at Steve, who had curled up and had snuggled up closer to me.

_Hey. I need a favor from you, Scout._ I think to myself, calling out to the Other Guy.

_What is it? _he answers.

_Can you make me remain in this form? I don't want to scare poor Steve when he wakes up and sees that I don't have anything on._ I ask.

_Sure thing. Thanks for letting me free for a little while longer. I know that you don't want me to hurt anyone. A friend of yours is a friend of mine, and I do not wish to harm your friends. I will only attack those who dare to hurt the ones that you love dearly. _Scout answers, putting my mind to ease.

_Thank you Scout. Even though we used to be in our own bodies, I still trust you a lot, _ I reply. I fall asleep a few minutes later, happy that Steve was safe in my arms.

**AN: Next Chapter may be in Steve's POV! What do you think of Julie's Other Guy?**

**R and R! Comment away!**


	8. Chapter 8: Stormy, Pranks, & More

**JML Ranch:** What's crackin' y'all?  
**Stark, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce:** You're back!  
**Steve:** Where were you?  
**JML Ranch:** College. Shit got into the way. But it's been straightened out now. Oh, Bruce, you said you had a prank planned. What happened?  
**Bruce:** I gave Stark a potion that caused him to think he was in an alternate reality. Apparently he thought we were all space aliens or something.  
**JML Ranch:** Oh-ha-ha-ha that is evil! *doubles over laughing*  
**Stark:** Shut up. *Flips the bird at JML Ranch*  
**JML Ranch:** *grins at Stark* Anyways.. Here's a long-overdue update! Chapter 8!

* * *

(STEVE'S POV)

I woke up and looked around the room. I then realized that I was in my room, but I was surrounded by something furry. I look up, and I see that it's Julie. She hasn't woken up yet, so I decide to just stay where I was until she woke up. It was strange to see her as a half man, half horse. I looked at her face. She had a broad stripe running down the middle of her face, with some dark spots. Her ears were relaxed, both having fallen to the side. Every few minutes, one ear would move ever so slightly. Finally, both of her ears started to move as she woke up.

"Hello there Steve," she mumbles sleepily. "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long. You sleep okay?"

"I think so. Looks like he kept his promise to me," she answers.

"Who's he?" I ask. She lets out a big sigh.

"That would be Scout, the Other Guy. He used to be an actual horse. His mind and some of his DNA lives on through me. I don't remember how he ended up bonded to my system like this, but I do remember that it hurt a lot. My face is exactly what he looked like, except for the eyes. He wants me to tell you that he will not allow any harm to befall you or me," she replies, smiling. I smile back at her and then look at the time. We had spent the night in my room.

"Well, let's get our day started. I need to go back to my room to clean up a little bit," she remarks. I move off of her so she can get up.

"Do you happen to have a code name?" I ask her before she leaves.

"Hmm... I don't think so. Why do you ask?" she answers.

"How about Scout?" I suggest.

She pauses for a moment, thinking. "He's fine with that. Scout it is then."

"Alright. We need to make sure the rest knows about that."

After watching her head down the hall and disappear around a corner, I close my door. I glance in the mirror and realize that I needed a shower badly. After taking a long, relaxing shower, I was standing in front of my closet, about to reach for my clothes when I heard a tap at the door.

"Who is it?" I call out.

"It's Julie," came the reply.

"Give me a few minutes."

"Alright."

I quickly put my clothes on, and I open the door to see Julie standing there. She had a maroon shirt on that said Texas A&M Aggies on the front. I had heard about the college, mainly because of its history as a top-notch military school.

"Is that the college you want to go to?" I ask.

"Yes. I have already applied and got accepted. I'm assuming you've heard about them."

"I have. I hear they have some of the best military training available in the country."

"And they still do. They also have one of the best veterinarian programs as well. I want to become a vet someday. Dad is not too happy about that, but he supports the idea of me going to college."

"When will you go?"

"In August. Hopefully this drama with Loki is over and done with by then. There's someone I want you to meet."

I raise my eyebrows at her, thinking that she may have met someone else.

"No. I wouldn't do that to you Steve! I want you to meet my horse that I have on board," she laughs.

"Oh, okay. You had me confused there for a moment," I sigh. I step out into the hallway and she grabs my hand, intertwining her fingers into mine. I let her lead me down to a part of the ship I had never seen before. It was clear that it was stables for horses. I even saw an pen with dirt in it.

"That's the arena. I ride my horse there. I haven't had the chance to ride for a while, and I figured that I would come visit my horse. He's up over here. Oh and, one little piece of warning, he likes to talk. A lot," she said as she led me down past stall after stall.

"What do you mean, talk?" I ask, perplexed. Then I hear a loud neigh fill the air.

"That," she said as he neighed, "is Stormy. He likes to make a lot of soft noises to me whenever I'm near him."

We got closer and I can see that the horse is a beautiful deep mahogany color, with the blackest mane I have ever seen. I looked at the horse in awe. I had never seen anything as majestic as Stormy.

"He's a sweet boy. Wait a moment while I lead him out of the stall," Julie says as she grabs what looks to be a tangle of rope. I then realize that it was a halter. When Stormy stepped out into the aisle, I thought my jaw had hit the floor.

He was a _big_ boy. His muscles rippled with every movement. He was making a lot of soft noises, most of it directed towards Julie. She laughed as he poked his nose into her chest.

"Yea I missed you too, lil fella. I want you to meet someone. Steve?"

I walked closer to Stormy. "Hold your hand out so he can smell your hand because he can remember who is who just by their smell," she directs me politely. I hold my hand out, and the whiskers on his nose tickles my hand, making me have to stifle a chuckle. I can feel his breath on my hand as he inspects my hand carefully. After a minute of sniffing my hand, he stops and raises his head so he is looking at me in the eyes. He tilts his head to one side slightly, then he takes a step forward and puts his head against my chest. Julie is looking at me with a shocked expression on her face.

"Steve... That means he trusts you completely. He will ONLY do that to me. I have never seen him put his head against anyone else's chest before," she murmurs, still shocked.

"He's so sweet and trusting. How did he end up with his name?" I ask, petting Stormy.

"Born during a thunderstorm. Figured that would be perfect for him. Little did I know what I was dealing with. He has powers. He is faster than any horse alive, and if he gets mad, he becomes completely indestructible. Can't blow him up, bullets just fall to the ground, can crash through a steel wall, the list goes on and on."

I let out a low whistle. "Some horse you are, Stormy. How come you didn't bring him the last few missions?"

"Too much weight for the Quinjet. He weights close to 2,000 pounds. Most of that is pure muscle. But if what Loki is saying about the army that he has is true, then I'm going to ride in on him. Speaking of riding, I'm going to grab some brushes and his saddle,' she heads into a room next to the stall. She returns with a saddle in one arm, and a bucket.

"Do you want me to hold his lead?" I ask. She nods her head. I reach out for the rope and grab it. Stormy doesn't move a inch as I watch Julie work.

(JULIE'S POV)

I watched Steve pick up the lead rope. I smile softly to myself. With a soft brush in my hand, I start to brush away the dirt from Stormy's coat. Years of experience had taught me how to brush quickly and efficiently. Then I moved on to his mane, tail, and I was done within a few minutes, finishing with picking out his hooves. Then I pick up the saddle pad and place it on his broad back. Using only one arm, I picked up my saddle and set it on his back. After messing with the riggings and straps, he was ready to be ridden. I step back into the tack room and grab a bridle from the wall.

"Ready?" Steve asks.

"Yep. Let's go to the arena," I answer as I open the gate leading into the arena. Steve hands me the lead rope and finds a spot on the fence to watch. I put the bridle on and quickly swing up into the saddle. It felt so good to be on Stormy's back again.

I pick up the reins and he starts to walk forward. I look over to a rack, and I pick up a bow and some arrows.

"What are you doing?" Steve calls out.

"Target practice, Indian style," I call back, grinning. I press a button and several targets appear in the arena. I tie the reins to the horn of my saddle, not needing them because Stormy was trained to obey leg signals alone. I ask Stormy to start off at a steady trot. We trot around for a few minutes as I shoot arrow after arrow into the targets. After refilling the quiver, I decide to change things up a bit. I press another button, and the targets start to move.

"Steve, you may want to get off that rail. The last thing I want to happen to you is to have a stray arrow hit you on accident," I warn. He obliges and finds another spot to sit. I take a deep breath and ask Stormy to lope. We move around the arena with grace, him stopping deep and hard then turning around 180 degrees, running sideways, and various other maneuvers.

After finishing with target practice, I put the bow and arrows away. I left the reins tied to the saddle, because I wanted to test how much he remembers. He walks to the middle of the arena and stops.

"Now is when things get interesting," I call over to Steve. I then look straight ahead and take a deep breath. Stormy responds to the lightest of cues, starting to trot in place. Then he starts to move side to side, slowly increasing the tempo and intensity of the movement. After a few minutes of this, I ask him to move sideways. He does so with so much speed that he almost flys into the wall of the arena, but he doesn't. Then I ask him to trot forward. He has so much collection that you would think he was going to just stop right where he was. All of a sudden, he jumps into the air and kicks out behind him with his hind legs.

(STEVE'S POV)

I watch Julie and Stormy in awe as they move around the arena. It was very obvious that they had spent hours and hours training together. Stormy moved with so much grace that he seemed to float above the ground. But at the same time he was so explosive. He could run sideways with so much power that I thought he would hit the walls, but he never did. Even though Julie told me that it had been a while, Stormy and she worked together like they had never quit working. They moved as one. I looked at the time, and was surprised at how long she had been riding him. It had been three hours and Stormy hadn't even started to pant.

"So... What did you think?" Julie asks me as she rides up to me.

"Amazing. I have never seen anything like that before. It was like you two never quit working together. Oh, and you forgot to mention that he has extreme endurance. Do you know how long you have been riding?" I answer.

"Three hours. And he is not even tired at all. He can do this all day long and only be slightly out of breath at the end of the day," She smiles as Stormy moves sideways towards the wall in front of where I was sitting. I look at her and she has a glint in her eyes. I cross my arms and raise my eyebrow at her, not sure what she was thinking.

"Hop on," she orders. "Don't worry, he's strong enough to carry up to four people on his back."

"You sure?" I ask nervously.

"Yes I am. Now hop on before I drag you on," she teases me.

"Alright then..." I shake my head as I slide on behind her. My heart starts to race a little, because I had never been on a horse's back before. I reach out and hug her around the middle. I feel her hand rest on top of mine and I smile. Stormy starts to walk forward. I start to feel a little bit tired, so I rest my head on Julie's shoulder.

(JULIE'S POV)

I smile as I felt Steve rest his head on my shoulder. Then I notice something moving outside the arena, making me tense up a little bit. Stormy stopped, having felt me tense up. I scan carefully, and then I spot Director Fury on the far end of the arena.

"Hey Steve... I think we just got busted," I whisper. He looked over to where I was looking and let out a little groan.

"Ugh... He just had to ruin the moment..." he mutters. I felt a smile tug at my lips as an idea formed in my mind.

"Hey Steve? You may want to hang on..." I smirked, looking at him. He had a confused look on his face for a moment, then he realizes that I am about to do something and smirks back. He wraps his arms around me, making sure not to let go. Stormy turns to the left, then backs up until his tail is almost touching the wall.

"Ready?" I ask Steve.

"Yep."

"Here we go. Just move with me," I say as I squeezed Stormy, indicating I wanted him to lunge forward as hard as he could. I lean forward as he pushes off from his legs, charging forward. We fly across the arena, and then I let go of all pressure, leaning back and sinking into the saddle. Stormy drives his hind legs under himself, causing dirt to fly into the air. He dug in as deep as the dirt would allow him to, sliding along. He comes to a full stop one foot before his nose touched the wall.

"Woo!" I yell as Stormy stands back up.

"Biggest thrill I have had in a long time." Steve laughs.

"What are you doing here, Fury?" I ask.

"I was just wondering where you and Steve had run off to. I figured that you would be back here," Fury chuckles. "Oh, and you may want to look up at the second deck too..."

Steve and I look at each other in confusion. Then we both look up.

"Shit!" I swore, feeling my face heat up. I could hear laughter from Thor, Dad, Clintasha, and Bruce. "How long have y'all been up there?"

"Two hours," Dad calls out. Steve swears under his breath, his face turning red. We both look at each other, feeling very embarrassed. Then Steve gets a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Turn around in the saddle. I want to make them think we are going to make out in front of them. I think everyone will leave when we start to lean in closer to each other," he whispers to me.

"I like that idea," I answer as I swing one leg over so that both are resting on one side of Stormy. I turn Stormy so we can steal glances up to where everyone else is. We sit there for a moment, holding each others' hands, making everyone else start to chatter quietly among themselves. I steal a glance, and I see that everyone has a curious expression on their faces.

"They're trying to figure out why we are sitting like this," I whisper to Steve. He moves one hand to my face, gently stroking my cheek and jaw. I let go of his hand, and move my hands so they are resting around his neck. He steals a glance, and he smirks at me.

"Thor is getting uncomfortable. He's looking around a lot. Clint, Nat, and your dad are staring at us, and I think Bruce already left."

I stifle a laugh, my face threatening to break out in a big grin. I was enjoying this. He then wraps his arms around me. I glance up again, and this time Thor is not there.

"Thor left. Now it's just Clintasha and Dad," I whisper. Steve struggles to contain his laughter, biting his lower lip in the process. We both move in closer and closer until we are so close we could kiss. He looks up again.

"They won't leave, but your dad is starting to get uncomfortable," he whispers. I am now barely able to contain my laughter.

"How come Clintasha are not fazed by us?" I giggle.

"I don't know. Ah, hell with them," he answers. I knew what he meant. My heart accelerated as we closed the gap. I felt his lips crash onto mine, sending sparks flying through my mind. I gently tangle my fingers in his hair, causing him to groan a little. I feel his hand move up higher on my back, then he pulls me even closer, deepening the kiss. We pull apart for a little bit of air, both panting a little bit. I look up and grin. They had all left.

"Well... At least they know there's something between us," I laugh. "But what are we? Where do we stand on our relationship?"

"Hmm..." he hums, thinking for a moment. "It's more than just friends, that's for sure."

"Agreed. Do you...would you be my boyfriend?" I ask shyly. He smiles at me and puts his hand on my cheek.

"Yes."

**AN: OMG THEY FINALLY GOT TOGETHER! ^_^**


	9. Chapter 9: Avengers Assemble!

**AN: I have chosen the couple name for Steve and Julie! It is...**

**STEVLIE! A big thank you to hopelessromatic1559 for the suggestion and support!**

**And the battle scene is kind of changed up a bit, FYI**

* * *

**JML Ranch:** Now this is where things gets really good. *Smiles*  
**Steve:** What do you mean?  
**JML Ranch:** Time for a little bit of battle action. Warning, there is one moment where one of y'all almost dies. You will have to read on to find out.  
**Bruce, Clint, Natasha, Stark:** O.o  
**Thor:** When will I appear, Lady JML?  
**JML Ranch:** Soon, Thor. You're part of the team! No Avenger story is complete without Thor and his mighty Mjolnir!  
**Thor:** *grins*  
**JML Ranch:** Oh, here's some Poptarts by the way.  
**Thor:** POPTARTS! *grabs box and runs off to eat them all*  
**Steve:** Shouldn't have given him that... He will end up with a sugar high.  
**Bruce:** He's right.  
**Stark**:I don't mind. Hilarious to watch him run around on a sugar high.  
*crashing noises* *Thor comes tearing through the room, hollering his head off* *runs outside and takes off flying*  
**JML Ranch:** He-heh. Oh well. Here's Chapter 9!

* * *

(Steve's POV)

After putting Stormy away, Julie and I wander around the carrier. I was surprised that she had the courage to ask me to be her boyfriend, but I couldn't be any happier. We came to the spot where the cage that held Loki was missing. Tony was standing there, staring at the spot where Coulson had been killed. I walked up behind Julie and wrapped my arms around her. She leans back into me, resting her head on my chest.

"Was he married?" I ask Tony.

"There was a cellist, I think." Tony replies.

"He seemed like a good man."

"He was stupid."

"For believing?"

"He shouldn't have taken Loki on alone. He should have waited."

"Dad!" Julie exclaims. Tony ignores her.

"He hit us right where we all live. Why?" Tony questions.

"To drive us apart?" I answer.

"Exactly. Divide and conquer. He's a full-tilt diva. We caught his act in Stussenberg."

Julie and I both nod in agreement.

"That was just previews. This is opening night. He wants flowers, parades, a monument built to the sky with his name plastered..." Tony trails off, realizing something. Julie and I give him 'the' look.

"Son of a bitch!" Tony mutters as he walks past us.

"I need to go get Stormy. It's time to teach Loki a lesson or two," Julie says as she turns around in my arms.

"Meet you at Stark Tower?" I ask.

"Yep," she says right before she kisses me. "See you there."

(JULIE'S POV)

I ran back to the stables as fast as I could. I pressed a button on my watch, and as I ran, I felt my armor encase my body. I was grateful that I had the serum in me because my armor weighs close to 500 pounds, fully loaded. I reach the stables, and the first thing I do is run into the tack room to retrieve my saddle and gear.

"Stormy! It's time to go to work!" I call out to him. He pokes his head over the stall door and nods his head in understanding. I open the door and quickly saddle him. I was about to grab his halter when I decided that he didn't need one. I trusted him enough to not run away from me. I quickly swing into the saddle, and I press a button on the saddle. A thin sheet of armor slides across Stormy's body. I see a door open, and I can see that it is the way out.

"Hyah!" I cry as Stormy lunges forward, running to the door. Then I realize that there is no ground beneath us. _Uh-oh._ Without thinking, I get off him and grab him so he doesn't fall. I fly way from the carrier as fast as I could. After a few minutes, I spot a place to land. I set Stormy on the ground, then I land on top of him.

He turns around, and he charges forward, jumping over and around anything and everything. I can see my home in the distance, and I urge Stormy to run as fast as he can.

It only takes us ten minutes to cover the distance. It would have taken an oridinary horse 3 hours, but my Stormy is no ordinary horse. We arrive in front of the tower, sliding to a stop.

"Dad? I'm in front of the tower," I say on the radio.

"Give me a minute. I'm kind of busy here," Dad answers. All I can do is wait. Suddenly, I hear a yell and a crash. Dad has been thrown out of the window. Then I see a red and gold object behind him. I smile because I know it's his armor. My smile disappears when I see a ray of bright blue light shoot up from the roof. A dark hole forms in the sky. I stare in horror when I see a bunch of aliens fly down.

"Dad! What the hell are those things?" I yell.

"Chitauri army from outer space," Dad answers.

"Crap! Nat, Clint, Steve, Banner, are y'all here yet?"

"Now we are," Nat answers.

"What, did you stop for drive-through? Swing up, Park. I'll lay them out for you," Dad orders. I nudge Stormy, and we take off like a bullet. I had _everything_ on my armor engaged, ready for me to use. I start with a long-range gun, enabling me to take out the flying Chitauri. Stormy had his own weapons as well, using them to keep the Chitauri that were on the ground away from us. I hear a yell on the radio and look up. I freeze in horror as I watch the Quinjet dive to the ground. I unarm everything except for two machine guns, one on each hand.

Stormy charges through the Chitauri, ignoring the blast from their weapons that hit him as he ran. I knew he was furious now, because even though his armor was missing in some places, he was not even hurt at all. We reach where the plane had landed, and I see that Clint, Nat, Steve, and Banner were okay.

"We need to get back up there," Steve orders. "You okay, Julie?"

"I'm good. Stormy too. Here they come," I say, referring to the Chitauri. I quickly arm several guns on my armor, and start to pepper them with gunfire. A few manages to get through the suffocating gunfire, only to get killed by either Steve or Nat. Clint had found some cover, and was busy shooting arrow after arrow. I hear a loud roar from the sky, and I look up.

"Guys..." I warn. "Dad, are you seeing this?"

"Seeing. Working on believing," Dad answers. I continue to fire away at the Chitauri on the ground and air. They all try to shoot me, but my armor just bounce the shots off like it was a ball. Steve and Nat runs towards me, taking shelter next to Stormy and me.

(STEVE'S POV)

Natasha and I ran towards Julie, and stand next to her and Stormy.

"Thank goodness you have that armor," I say.

"Glad I decided to make it. I never planned on using it, but here I am using it. Who knew?" she answers, not stopping the writhing fire. I felt safer knowing she would not get hurt at all. After resting for a few minutes, I run back into the thick of battle, using my shield to full advantage.

"Cap, they are like fish in a barrel down there," Nat calls out.

"You sure you can hold them off?" I ask.

"Captain," Clint says as he presses a button on his bow. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

"Julie? I need a ride down."

"Hop on," Julie replies, wheeling Stormy around. I get a running start, then jump up onto Stormy and hug her so I don't fall off. Stormy trots a few feet, then I feel him gather himself. He jumps over the rail, and I see a bunch of Chitauri approaching, shooting as they go. Stormy lands on the ground, and starts running again. Everytime a shot comes close, Stormy either runs or jumps sideways. We come up to a group of policemen. As Stormy slides to a stop, I jump off and land on the roof of a car.

"You need to lead the civilans down and off the streets so they are not in the line of fire," I order.

"We also need a perimeter all the way to 39th Street," Julie adds.

"Why should we listen to you two?" the officer interjects. Suddenly, a series of loud explosions go off behind me. I look, and a small group of Chitauri approaches. Two starts to attack me. I knock one out, and chop the arm off of the other one. Julie is sitting on Stormy, surrounded by dead Chitauri. The police officer starts to give the exact orders that we gave him. We both smirk at each other.

"Alright, we need to get back to Clint and Nat. I hope they are doing okay," Julie says as she swings Stormy around. I jump from the roof of the car onto Stormy's back. We both return to where Clint and Natasha are fighting, then Thor comes down, frying the Chitauri around us with lightning.

"What's the story upstairs?" I ask.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impentrable."

"How are we going to stop them?" Julie asks.

"As a team," I answer. Somehow we all manage to stand together in a circle, our backs to the middle. Julie is on Stormy to my right, and Natasha is to my left.

"Call it, Cap," Tony says.

"All right, listen up. Until we can get that portal closed up, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you up on the corner of that building. Call out patterns and strays. Tony, you have the perimeter. Anything that gets more than five blocks out, you either turn it back or turn it to ash."

"Can you give me a lift?" Clint asks Tony.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas," Tony answers as he grabs Clint and flys up into the air.

"Thor, you gotta try to bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up. Us four will keep the fighting here," I say, looking at Julie, Stormy, and Natasha. "And Hulk-"

Hulk grunts, acknowledging me. I point to the sky.

"Smash," I finish. Hulk smirks and starts to smash everything he can. I hear a steady roar of rockets and gunfire from above me, so I look up. I see Julie hovering above us, using everything on her armor to either stop or slow down the Chitauri.

(JULIE'S POV)

I was up in the air just above where Steve, Nat and Stormy were fighting, keeping up a steady stream of gunfire. I could see that Stormy was really going berserk. He was running around, either smashing into or trampling the Chitauri. The Chitauri could not hurt Stormy, no matter how hard they tried.

"Cap, this is going to mean nothing if we don't get that portal closed up," Nat says to Steve.

"You need a way to get up there," Steve answers.

"I could use a boost though."

Steve backs up a few steps and sets his shield in front of himself. "You sure about this?"

"Yeah. It'll be fun," Nat says sarcastically. She runs at Steve, jumps on a car, lands on Steve's shield, then launches into the air and grabs on one of the flying Chitauri. I decide to land and my armor starts to collapse.

"Are you nuts?" Steve exclaims at me.

"Maybe a little. Time to let Scout loose for a while," I answer as my armor transforms into a shield similar to Steve's but much bigger. I allow Scout to take over most of the control, but not completely. I let out a roar that challenged Hulk's. The Chitauri freezes for a moment, staring at me. I let out another loud roar, this time not holding back at all. A few starts to flee the scene. This makes me fill with pride, happy that I am now able to scare at least a few of them. I throw my shield/armor at them, sending them flying.

"Didn't think you could scare them," Steve smirks at me.

"I didn't think so either. But at least some of them are having second thoughts about attacking us now."

"Guys! I can close the portal. Can anyone copy?" Nat calls out.

"Do it!" Steve orders.

"NO!" Dad yells.

"Tony, those things are still coming!"

"I have a nuke coming in, and it's going to blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."

"Dad, that's a one way trip!" I cry out.

"Julie... You're the best daughter I could ever have had. I'm proud to call you my daughter even though we are not related," Dad says, his voice cracking a little. I try to stifle down a cry.

"Steve, take care of Julie for me... You're the best thing that happened to her," Dad says to Steve.

"I will take care of her for you, Tony," Steve answers. By this point, I had changed back to my normal form, and I walk over to Steve. He pulls me into a hug and I just bury my head against his chest. I look up to see that Dad has disappeared into the portal. Then I see a bright light from the portal and all of the Chitauri dies on the spot. We all watch the portal, waiting for Dad to return.

"Come on Daddy... Please come back," I beg.

"Close it," Steve orders after a few minutes. At that, I just lose it. Steve just pulls me in, hugging me tightly as sobs rack my body. I feel Steve put his hand on the back of my head as he puts his head next to mine. After a few minutes, Steve looks up.

"Son of a gun," Steve mutters. I look up, and I see Dad.

"He's not slowing down," Thor says, swinging his hammer but is interrupted as Hulk rushes past him. Hulk jumps up in the air and catches Dad, using the buildings to slow his descent down. He smashes into the ground, using his body to protect Dad. I tear away from Steve and run towards my dad.

"Dad!" I yell as I collapse on the ground next to him. Thor pulls Dad's facemask off, and I notice that the light from the arc reactor is gone.

"Dad...No..." I whisper. "Don't leave me please!"

Hulk roars just right then and Dad wakes up with a shout. I sigh in relief, and lean back onto Steve, who was crouching on the ground behind me. He wraps one arm around me.

"What the hell? Please tell me no one kissed me," Dad says.

"We won," Steve replies, letting out a sigh. Dad sets his head back on the ground, relieved.

"Allright! Hurray! Good job guys! Let's not come in tomorrow. Let's just take the day off. There's a shwarama joint close by. I've never had shwarama, but I want some," Dad says.

"Dad... No. Just no. I just want to get Loki locked up and off our planet. Then I want to go home and sleep for a week or so," I complain. Steve chuckles behind me.

"Then shwarama after."


	10. Chapter 10: The Aftermath

**One of my reviewers pointed out that I had accidentally posted Chapter 9 twice. Whoopsie! Here's the CORRECT chapter!**

* * *

**JML Ranch:** Well... this is the last chapter... *sighs sadly*  
**Stark:** What's the matter?  
**JML Ranch:**I kind of ran out of ideas...  
**Natasha:** Hey guys! Did you hear about the new movie about Cap?  
**JML Ranch:** I heard that it came out not too long ago.  
**Steve, Stark, Bruce, Clint, and Thor:** *overlapping chatter*  
**JML Ranch:** Hey! Keep it down in here! *they all shut up*  
**Natasha:** Maybe when you see it, you'll get some more ideas.  
**JML Ranch:** That's a good idea, Nat. Maybe I'll be able to do a sequel. *starts to cry a little* Here's Chapter 10...

* * *

(STEVE'S POV)

We had all arrived back at the carrier, tired and wore out from the battle. I notice that Julie has a nasty gash on her arm.

"Julie? You have a big cut on your arm," I point to her arm. She looks at me confused, then looks. Her face pales and then quickly puts her arm down, but in doing so, she winces slightly.

"Let me clean that up," I say softly.

"It needs stitches," she replies. She heads to the hospital ward, and I follow her. She sits down on a hospital bed. She looks at me and raises an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I say, confused.

"You're all cut up. And you have a scrape on your side," she answers. "Let them take care of you."

"Actually... I would rather let you do that instead of the doctors. I've seen how you take care of Stormy when he gets hurt. Honestly, I think you do a better job," I whisper so the doctors do not hear me.

"Alright, whatever. You're stubborn," she teases me.

"Hey! You're just as stubborn too!" I exclaim.

"Hmm. I wonder who is the most stubborn on the team."

"Probably your dad."

"I think you're right. Even I can't convice him to listen to me. He will only listen to his girlfriend," she rolls her eyes at the last part. It only takes the doctor a few minutes to treat her wound.

"Come on, let's take care of you," Julie walks towards me and intertwines her fingers with mine. We walk to a room that has what looks like medical supplies in it.

"Who does this room belong to?" I ask her.

"Me. I help out the vet here on the carrier. He gave me this room so I would have somewhere quiet to work. Usually it's Stormy that visits this room, but I do get my fair share of other patients." She rummages through her cabinents, gathering things.

"But you're not an actual vet yet..." I trail off, confused.

"You do forget that I'm Tony Stark's adopted daughter? I already finished my undergraduate. I'm going to vet school this fall, I hope," Julie sets the medical supplies on a table. "Sit on that table there please."

I sit on the table that Julie is pointing at. She presses a button and the table moves. I yelp in surprise. She laughs.

"You're just too adorable."

(JULIE'S POV)

Steve is now sitting where I can easily clean up the cuts on his face. After spending a few minutes treating the cuts on his face, I set down the medicine. I sigh as I glance at the scrape on his side.

"Steve, I'm going to have to ask you to take your shirt off so I can clean up that scrape on your side. I'll look away if that will make you feel a little bit more comfortable," I request before I turn around. I hear him sigh a little. I hear a loud noise, like velcro ripping apart, then a zipper.

"Alright." Steve says, and I turn around. He is blushing a little bit. I laugh to myself, because Steve tends to get embarssed easily.

"How did you get that?" I ask.

"A Chitauri tried to shoot me, only grazed me instead." He winces a little bit as I clean the scrape.

"Sorry." I whisper.

"It's okay."

After cleaning up the wound, I inspect it for any major damage.

"You're a lucky man, Steve. It could have been worse," I say as I put some medicine on a gauze. "Hold this in place while I wrap you up."

After wrapping the gauze around him a few times, he puts his hand on my shoulders. I finish up, using a small piece of tape to hold the bandage in place. I try to pull away, but instead I get pulled into a hug.

"Thank you," he whispers.

"Anytime. I think I could sleep for a week..." I mumble tirely.

"Same here..." he agrees.

(STEVE'S POV)

It had been a quiet few days at S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury had wanted everyone to meet at Central park to send Thor and Loki home. I approached the location where we were going to meet on my motorcycle, and I was surprised to see someone there already. I smiled because I had recongized them. It was Julie and Stormy.

"Hey there," I call out as I turn the motorcycle off.

"Hey there yourself. How are you?" she answers.

"Eh, okay. Been quiet around here the last few days. And you?"

"I'm still sore and tired. But my dad won't let me sleep in or anything like that. So I kept myself busy by designing something for Stormy so he doesn't tear up the ground like he did a few days ago."

"Ah. What will it do?"

"It will make him hover over the ground. But he will be able to join me in the sky too. I have a test protype on him right now. All they do is hover."

"Can you show me?"

"Sure." she presses a button and Stormy starts to lift off the ground. He only gets up about 4 inches off the ground. He then starts to walk, and I can hear the jets turn on and off.

"They detect when he picks up his feet, turning them off so he doesn't hurt his legs with the heat. But they activate as soon as he starts to put his foot down," she explains as Stormy walks around a little bit. Then she presses a button and the jets turn off. "They have been designed to withstand walking on the ground as well. Just consider them a set of shoes with a little bit of twist thrown in."

"That's pretty cool. Where's your dad?"

"No idea. I left him at Stark Tower, so I don't know if he is on his way or not. He will show up sooner or later. Let's hope it's sooner and not later."

"Aren't you going to get off of Stormy?"

"Nope. Too comfortable now," she grins at me.

"How can you be comfortable up there?"

She shrugs. "Years of riding. You get used to it after a while. I see a few cars approaching."

I look and I see several cars approaching. I know one is Tony's obviously, and one of the the black SUVs has Loki and Thor. Julie swings down from the saddle, landing next to me. I just grin at her as she pokes her head under my arm so my arm is now around her.

"Hey there Stevie!" Tony teases.

"Stevie?" Julie asks. Tony just smacks his forehead.

"Really? That's your and Steve's name put together," Tony sasses at her. I frown a little at Tony.

"No shit Sherlock," Julie replies. "Whatever happened to Pepperony?"

I have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing at Tony's expression. Natasha and Clint are both smirking at Julie. She looks up at me and grins.

"Nice going, sweetie," I whisper to her.

"Thank you. I love teasing my dad like that. He does that to me, so it's fair game."

I nod in agreement. Then I see Thor come up, leading Loki. Loki is handcuffed and has a device on his mouth so he can't speak. Thor has a strange looking cylinder with two handles, one on each end. Dr. Selvieg comes up with a silver case. I frown as I see the Tesseract again. That thing has caused me so much pain. It was the reason why I was frozen for 70 years. Julie must have seen my expression, because she tugs at my jacket.

"At least we won't have to deal with that thing ever again." she reassures me.

"You're right. It's just that thing caused me so much trouble during the war. Thank goodness it's going back where it belongs," I smile.

She walks over to Thor and hugs him. Then she walks over to Loki and says something. Loki looks at her with a frightened expression on his face. She walks back to me with a smirk on her face.

"What did you say to him?" I ask quietly when she is next to me.

"I told him that if he comes back that Banner and I will bring out the Other Guys and gladly smash him again, and that the last time Banner's Other Guy smashed him was only a small glimpse of what I would do to him," she replies.

"Ah, that explains why he looked scared. He doesn't want to get thrown around like a ragdoll again. Even when you're not Scout, you still are dangerous," I smirk at her.

"That's right. You don't mess with the Other Guys. Or me, for that matter," she winks at me. I laugh quietly and we look up. Thor nods his head in a silent farewell, handing the other end of the container to Loki and turns the handle. A bright light surrounds them and they are gone.

"Well... What happens to us?" I ask her, referring to our relationship.

"Hang on. I need to ask Dad something," she answers, walking over to Tony. After a few minutes, she returns with a big grin.

"What are you grinning about?" I ask.

"I talked to Dad about a few things. Would you like to live with us in the tower?"

"Depends."

"Well, you would get your own floor, and the best part- you get to decide how it looks. You can decide what kind of rooms you want, how much technology, and so on."

"I-I-I get to design my own place?" I sputter, shocked at what she had said.

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p'.

"Well..." I trail off, lost in thought for a moment. "Your dad is fine with this?"

"Yes sir," she answers.

"Alright. I accept your offer," I grin at her.


End file.
